No fairytale ending for training great Luca Cumani
There was to be no fairytale ending to Luca Cumani's illustrious training career after his final runner had to make do with a fast-finishing second at Wolverhampton on Thursday evening.
The legendary Italian trainer announced last month he had decided to call it a day after 43 years at Bedford House Stables in Newmarket.
He confirmed earlier this week that Swansdown, carrying the colours of his family's Fittocks Stud, would be the last horse he would saddle as a trainer and the youngster was a heavily-backed 6-5 favourite for the Ladbrokes, Bet £5 Get £20 Nursery.
Swansdown was in the rear for much of the extended nine-furlong journey and looked likely to be nearer last than first racing down the back straight, with Oisin Murphy hard at work long before the home turn.
However, the Dubawi filly really got rolling in the straight and in the end was beaten just three-quarters of a length by Roger Teal's 7-1 Fitwood Star under Robert Winston.
Cumani, 69, told Press Association Sport: "It's a shame we didn't manage to go out on a winner, but it was only a little race and the important thing is that we managed to have a Group One winner in our final year (God Given won Premio Lydia Tesio at Capannelle earlier this month).
"This filly finished well. She is bred to appreciate further and I'm sure she'll step up to a mile and a half next year."
With Bedford House due to be sold early next year, Cumani and his wife Sara will move across Newmarket to live and work at Fittocks Stud.
Asked if it could take him a while to adjust, Cumani said: "It might do, but I'm lucky that I've got another job to go to and something else to focus on.
"We're going to Australia in January, so we'll move after that."
Cumani's countless big-race winners include two Epsom Derby heroes in Kahyasi (1988) and High-Rise (1998).
He also tasted British Classic success in the 1984 St Leger with Commanche Run, while Barathea was a Cumani star in the 1990s, winning the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the Queen Anne Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Mile.
In more recent years, Cumani trained the popular Falbrav to win five Group One races, including the Eclipse, International and QEII.
FIVE OF THE BEST
Luca Cumani has had a plethora of equine talent through his hands during a highly successful career, dating back to 1976. Keith Hamer selects five of his best.
Barathea
The Breeders' Cup may only have been an afterthought at the end of the 1994 season, but Cumani left no stone unturned in Barathea's preparation by building a Churchill Downs-style course and sending over him to the United States early so he could acclimatise.
Barathea won in convincing style by three lengths to end his career in a high. His other important wins came in the 1993 Irish 2,000 Guineas and the Queen Anne Stakes in 1994.
Commanche Run
It usually takes more than just a classy stayer to win the St Leger, and 1984 victor Commanche Run proved the point by landing two Group Ones over a mile and a quarter the following year.
Commanche Run was one of the best examples to showcase Cumani as a great trainer, as the horse suffered a setback just a few days before the race. He and his staff kept a constant vigil over Commanche Run after he grazed both forelegs in a fall.
Their care paid off with victory under a vintage ride from Lester Piggott. The following year, he won the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup and the Irish Champion Stakes.
Falbrav
Falbrav is yet another testament to Cumani as a trainer, as the horse won eight times at the top level in five different countries - England, France, Hong Kong, Italy and Japan.
Falbrav got better with age and was superbly campaigned. Running all over the world, Falbrav won half of his 26 starts and was placed in all bar three of them.
His three top-level wins in Britain came in the Eclipse, the International and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
Fittingly, he ended his racing days with victory in the Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin under Frankie Dettori.
Kahyasi
Kahyasi was nurtured for greatness. Winner of his only start as a two-year-old, the Aga Khan-owned colt was unimpressive on his first start at three at Sandown but still won and put up a much-improved performance to land the Lingfield Derby Trial.
That set him in good stead for Epsom where, suited by a breakneck piece, he swooped to beat Glacial Storm by a length and a half. He went on to win the Irish Derby, albeit by a short head, despite being struck into.
He was never quite the same afterwards and was beaten in his last two races, the Prix Niel and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
One So Wonderful
Cumani trained many talented fillies throughout his career, including Embla, Infamy and Gossamer, but arguably none better than One So Wonderful.
Successful in her only race at two and in her first two starts at three, it was as a four-year-old that she enjoyed her finest hour in the Juddmonte International.
What a race it was, as she won a never-to-be-forgotten battle by a short-head from Faithful Son, with Chester House the same distance away in third.
It was a performance that saw her earn the accolade of the highest-rated older filly or mare in 1998.